The Human Face

Viewed from Being, the human face defies all conventional, that is to say thoughtless, representations which systematically neglect the face as face, the being of the face, as distinct from its expression. The mind's eye, in order to grasp the being of the human face, must focus on the nose as the prominent and indeed central point of the face. When it achieves this—after several repeated attempts in front of a mirror—the eyes, mouth and ears are seized in their triangular positionning relative to the end of the nose, are almost equidistant from it. One is left with a blank, startled perhaps even distressed expression that is reminiscent of Ancient Greek and Roman figurative art. In particular the eyes appear to be bare, unfocused as they are on any being other than the Being of the face. The flatness, vulnerability, even oddness of the human face will strike those of you who make this attempt in thought. The nose, when seen as central, looks meek as compared to the developed snouts of carnivores but a showing of the teeth will reveal the beastly quality in man. A method of memorization is to focalize on the frontal part of the face, by which I mean the forehead and nose bone, which focalization reveals a location of the eyes that is immovable, the eyes themselves being movable. The mouth, the opening for food and communication, is also movable but not its location. A study of the photographs of Heidegger (1889-49/1) in his study, in particular that which is taken from the side, reveals his difference in nature. For the eyes do not have preeminence over his other facial features. He is a monster (from the latin verb monstrare, to show, and in our verb to demonstrate). As an annex we may add that the focalization on the frontal part of the face reveals a ferocious aspect, a warlike element in man, an aspect which has been forgotten today but that shall come back. 15/2/1/2